What do MEPs get up to all day?

The above clip contains one part of a single day's voting list. The point is not that it is exceptional, but that it is typical. Remember this list the next time someone tells you that the EU exists only to enable its members to achieve collectively what they can't singly.

Two points for those who are interested. The reason I encouraged the Deputy Speaker to carry on using Greek is that, moments earlier, the amiable Earl of Dartmouth, who sits for UKIP, had twitted him for not using English – a language which he speaks immaculately. It may seem a small point, but the right of every MEP to use his native tongue is one of the few remaining signs that the EU is an association of nations rather than a federation. Take it away and you simultaneously remove the main obstacle to statehood.

Oh, and if you're wondering who the foxy blonde at the beginning is, she is Emma McClarkin, the clever and patriotic MEP for the East Midlands.